Rome Opera's Summer Season Blends Tradition and Innovation at Caracalla

The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma's summer season at the Baths of Caracalla features a program of concerts, ballet, and opera that balances innovation and tradition. The outdoor venue now hosts over 3,000 spectators, down from 20,000 in the 1930s, aiming to attract audiences who do not usually attend the main Teatro Costanzi. Three operas are scheduled: two new productions of Carmen and Tosca, and a revival of last year's successful Nabucco. Carmen, directed by Valentina Carrasco (formerly of La Fura dels Baus), has sparked controversy with the Mexican government for its contemporary setting on the US-Mexico border, depicting Lilas Pasti's tavern as a brothel and smuggling as drug trafficking, with a final scene at a popular festival featuring skeleton imagery. Carrasco's direction is praised for its dramatic intensity and excellent crowd choreography. Tosca, directed by Pier Luigi Pizzi, is set in the fascist era of 1935-37, the so-called 'years of consensus,' with elegant costumes but a historically questionable choice. The orchestra, conducted by Jesús López Coboz in Carmen and Donato Renzetti in Tosca, handled the complex Wagnerian scores with warmth and color.